Mark Vincent has risen from senior special agent to Director of Interior Affairs in the WBIS. Lately, life has been sweet for him -- in addition to his promotion, he's found a partner in Quinton Mann, who can almost match his ability in the intelligence field, in spite of the fact Quinn's CIA. Mark has also found a condo in Alexandria with the help of Portia Mann, Quinn's mother, and it's closer to Quinn's town house than Mark's present apartment. Sweetest of all, Mark plans to take Quinn to his island in the Caribbean for the holidays.<br><br>Quinn's glad he has the holiday with Mark to look forward to -- something is going on at Langley, and he feels he's being kept out of the loop. To make matters even worse, useless missions and sleepless nights filled with nightmares are leaving him exhausted. But then his mother's life if threatened, and Quinn discovers the accident that resulted in her hospitalization was no accident. The obsessively self-absorbed Senator Wexler is involved, and while Quinn considers himself a civilized man, now he's out for blood.<br><br>Up until this point, Mark has stayed out of Quinn's CIA business. But hurting Quinn and those he loves isn't a smart move, and Mark has every intention of seeing Wexler pays. Quinn demands to come along, and while Mark isn't happy, he finally agrees, and they set out together to deal with the senator. There's just one catch: this will be the first time Quinn sees Mark at his deadly best, and Mark isn't sure how his lover will react.

Forever

“Probably because we usually spend the weekend at your place.” And we would have done last night if he hadn’t been so exhausted he’d picked a fight with me, revealing the level of his exhaustion. I decided to change the subject. “Wait until you see the closet in my new master bedroom. There will be plenty of room for your stuff. You could practically move in.” I thought about him moving in, living with me, of us making love every day—maybe even twice a day—working side by side in the kitchen, but then the reality of our situation descended on me. WBIS. CIA. I sighed and let it go.


He glanced around the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”


The table was already set. “I’ve made a fresh pot of coffee. Pour us a couple of cups, would you?”


“Sure.” He went to the cabinet that held the cups, and I got a funny feeling in my gut. I realized it was because he knew where stuff was in my home. “Something smells good. What did you make?”


Chapter 42